Capybara's beautiful indie game Below delayed indefinitely 'after a lot of soul searching'

Super Time Force developer Capybara Games has announced its long-awaited, ethereal indie game, Below, has been delayed until further notice. Announcing the delay in a blog post on 18 August, the team wrote that although they did work hard to meet its summer deadline, they decided that "after a strong push" the game just isn't ready.

"We did a lot of soul searching," the post reads. "We knew we wanted to get it into your hands as soon as possible. We knew the game was there, and we're super proud of it, but we also knew it needed more time to make sure it lives up to our studio's standards, and the quality you expect from our games.

"From the very beginning, Below has been our most ambitious undertaking, and we're just not quite done excavating its depths, or polishing all of its facets."

The developer did not provide a new release date for its atmospheric dungeon crawler either, saying they will reveal a new "firm release date" with its next update.

"Instead of giving you a new, loose release window, we will be going dark while we take the time that we need to complete Below without compromise," the team wrote. "The next time you see a major Below update, that means our game has a firm release date, which we'll share.

"Making games is hard but rewarding work. Accepting, even after this long development, that the game needs more time is difficult, but it's important that we are honest with ourselves as creators, and with you, the players."

Initially revealed back in 2013 at Microsoft's E3 press conference as one of the first indie titles showcased for the Xbox One, the intriguing, dark "roguelike-like" was supposed to be launched in 2014 before its release date was pushed back to 2015. It was later delayed once again to 2016.

"We're sorry we let you down with yet another delay," the team wrote. "But in the end, we need to make certain that the hard work we've put into this game turns into something you'll love, and to us that unfortunately means keeping Below in the oven a while longer, until it truly is ready."

Inspired by the beloved Legend Of Zelda series, Below tasks players with exploring and surviving a mysterious, dangerous land as a tiny warrior.

"It's not a roguelike. It's a roguelike-like," Capybara Games' Nathan Vella, told Polygon back in 2013 "The game's really about exploration. You're a tiny warrior, exploring the depths of a remote island. The first goal is to explore it, but really the key part of exploration is surviving."

Below is expected to release for the Xbox One and PC.